If you’re a fan of active management, there’s ample reason to like the Fidelity Total Bond mutual fund. It’s Gold-rated by Morningstar and has beaten the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index by one percentage point annually over the past 10 years. At Charles Schwab, for instance, buying the Fidelity mutual fund (FTBFX), which isn’t on Schwab’s no-transaction-fee OneSource platform, costs $76.

Unlike active stock pickers, the best managers from the likes of PIMCO, DoubleLine, Guggenheim and Loomis Sayles have proven track records of adding value for their investors versus a passive benchmark. Look back through my blog and you will see numerous references to some of my favorite funds like the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund (MUTF:DBLTX) or the PIMCO Income Fund (MUTF:PONDX). More recently, we have focused on their complimentary exchange-traded fund portfolios via the PIMCO Active Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:BOND) and the SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF (NYSEARCA:TOTL).

What to do about a fixed-income allocation remains a lingering question for many investors. On one side, the 30-plus-year bond rally is said to be over, and the outlook for returns in bonds is on the decline. On the other hand, Treasury yields continue to drop even as the Federal Reserve remains committed to pushing rates higher (yields drop when bond prices rise). So far this year, 10-year Treasury yields have slipped 5.3%.

According to Don Schreiber Jr., passive ETFs are weapons of mass destruction. "Passive [investing] is probably one of the most dangerous things I've seen in my 35-year career," said the founder, CEO and co-portfolio manager of the $1.8 billion WBI Investments. That, in large part, stems from transparency. Knowing an ETF's full basket of securities gives investors a false sense of security, says Schreiber, and encourages herd mentality.